Combined feeding and teething device for infants

ABSTRACT

A spoon of stainless steel has a handle and bowl or head at one end of the handle. The other end of the handle is secured via a metal to plastic seal to a plastic teething ring.

ilnited States Patent De Mieri [451 Feb. 11, 1975 COMBINED FEEDING ANDTEETHING DEVICE FOR HNFANTS 2.338.980 H1944 Stratton 128/359 X FOREIGNPATENTS OR AP'PLlCATIONS 1 17,636 10/1943 Australia PrimaryE.\'uminerChanning L. Face [57] ABSTRACT A spoon of stainless steel hasa handle and bowl or head at one end of the handle. The other end of thehandle is secured via a metal to plastic seal to a plastic teethingring.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures COMBINED FEEDING AND TEETIIING DEVICE FORINFANTS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention is directed toward asimple durable device'which can be used both in feeding infants and inassisting teething of infants, thus eliminating the need for twoindividual items, one used for feeding, the other for teething.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a spoon for feeding infantswhich includes a handle with a bowl or head at one end. A teething ringis secured to the other end.

Characteristically, the spoon is formed from stainless steel while thering is formed from a firm yet yieldable non-metallic material whichwill not cause injury or bruise mouth, gum or teeth in use. To securethe ring to the handle, a metal to plastic seal can be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. I is a plan view of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view showing my invention in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS.1-4, a stainless steel spoon has an elongated handle with a head or bowl12 at one end. The structure has the same slant as a conventional spoon.Stainless steel is used because of lack of tarnishing and ease ofcleaning. The spoon and handle are smooth without any recesses or bulgeswhich could trap food particles or could create any hazard when in usein feeding the infant-or in teething as described below. All edges ofhandle and bowl are carefully rounded and smoothed to avoid any risk ofcutting.

A teething ring I4 is secured to the other end of the handle. This ringis formed ofa firm yet yieldable material which is non-metallic and canbe used for teething without any risk of injury or bruising.

Since the ring is to be permanently secured to the handle, and since thenon-metallic material is not easily secured directly to the handle, ametal to plastic seal 16 is disposed between handle and ring to providea proper bond.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to thedrawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described my invention what is asserted as new is:

1. A device for use both in feeding an infant and assisting teethingthereof, said device comprising:

an elongated handle formed of stainless steel with one thereof formedinto a head of a spoon;

a teething ring formed of a firm yet yieldable nonmetallic materialwhich cannot cause injury to mouth, gum or teeth during teething, saidring being oriented in a plane essentially parallel to the planecontaining the face of the spoon; and

a plastic to metal seal disposed between the other end of the handle andthe ring to secure the ring to the other end of the handle, the sealbeing flush with the surfaces of handle and ring.

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1. A device for use both in feeding an infant and assisting teethingthereof, said device comprising: AN ELONGATED HANDLE FORMED OF STAINLESSSTEEL WITH ONE THEREOF FORMED INTO A HEAD OF A SPOON; A TEETHING RINGFORMED OF A FIRM YET YIELDABLE NON-METALLIC MATERIAL WHICH CANNOT CAUSEINJURY TO MOUTH, GUM OR TEETH DURING TEETHING, SAID RING BEING ORIENTEDIN A PLANE ESSENTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE PLANE CONTAINING THE FACE OF THESPOON; AND A PLASTIC TO METAL SEAL DISPOSED BETWEEN THE OTHER END OF THEHANDLE AND THE RING TO SECURE THE RING TO THE OTHER END OF THE HANDLE,THE SEAL BEING FLUSH WITH THE SURFACES OF HANDLE AND RING.